Los Angeles Lakers centre Brook Lopez is having his quietest season in the NBA. But a match up against Kiwi Steven Adams brought out the best in him as Lopez led the Lakers to a 108-104 win against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Lopez, who travelled to New Zealand with Adamsin 2013, exploited the big Kiwi's perimeter defence on Monday (NZ time), dropping four of nine attempts from three-point range on his way to his first 20-point performance since November.
Adams was kept quiet for a second straight game, posting 12 points, collecting five steals and five rebounds.
The Lakers showed experience wasn't everything against the high-flying Thunder, with the third-youngest roster in the NBA fighting off a late charge to claim a wire-to-wire win, thanks to Lopez and an important double-double from rookie guard Josh Hart who had 14 points and 11 rebounds.
The Thunder didn't help their situation by giving up free points from technical fouls, with forwards Paul George and Carmelo Anthony both being T'd up for arguing with the referees.
The result was the Thunder's fourth straight loss after an eight-game winning streak. Since losing defensive guard Andre Roberson for the season to injury, the Thunder have failed to win a game.
Last week, the Thunder has the chance to jump to fourth in the Western Conference. However with recent results, they've fallen almost four games back for the fourth-seed Minnesota Timberwolves and are in danger of falling to sixth, now sitting just one win ahead of the Portland Trail Blazers.
Things don't get any easier for the Thunder in their next match, meeting ex-Thunder Star Kevin Durant and the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday (NZ time).
